Instagram requests dismissal of class action lawsuit

HIPSTER PHOTO SHARING APP Instagram has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it after it announced changes to its privacy policy.

The class action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco in December by an Instagram user named Lucy Funes, who claimed breach of contract against the service, Reuters reports.

Instagram announced changes to its terms of service on 17 December so the service could share its data with Facebook, adding that it could also use photos uploaded by users without their consent, taking effect on 16 January.

The policy update read, "We may share User Content and your information (including but not limited to, information from cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data, and usage data) with businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of, or that become part of that group ("Affiliates").

Court papers reveal that Funes sued the company on 21 December, almost a month before the changes in the terms of service went into effect. According to Instagram's filing, she continued to use her account after that date.

As a result, Instagram said that Funes has no right to bring her claim because she could have deleted her Instagram account before the terms of service changes took effect.

Funes also claimed that the new terms required her to transfer her rights in her photos to the company. Instagram is having none of it, however, and said both the old service terms and the new ones "emphasise that [she] owns the content she posts through Instagram's service".